2021-22 Tony Award Eligibility Rulings — Page 2

IIRC, people disliked Watanabe mostly because they found it difficult to understand him through his real-life accent. For my money, I thought his performance was excellent in all other regards.

I sometimes had trouble understanding him, particularly at the beginnings of sentences - by the time he reached the middle/end of a sentence, I was usually able to retroactively infer what he had said without much difficulty. It required a bit of active listening, and maybe some effort to understand, but isn't that what The King and I is really about?

In any case, I guess enough of the nominators agreed with me, and they were more likely to already be familiar with the text going in - and thereby have less difficulty understanding him.

ggersten said: "does the committee act on its own or was the category based on producer petition/position?"

Both. The producers have the option to petition, which the committee can approve or deny. The committee also has the power to make decisions on their own. Say, for instance, the producers of Diana decided not to petition for the category change for Jeanna de Waal. The committee would most likely take it upon themselves to make that category change regardless, as there would be no way to argue that the role of Diana is not the lead in that show.

Wayman_Wong said: "''Or Watanabe got a nomination because he was excellent in the show.''

Count me among the many who found Watanabe disappointing and didn't think he deserved a Tony nomination. And I was far from alone. Michael Riedel even devoted an entire column in the N.Y. Post to this: ''For weeks, my spies were telling me that nobody at “The King and I” could understand a word Ken Watanabe was saying. And when I say nobody, I mean nobody — from the actors to the audience to the ushers.'' I wish that Watanabe's nomination went to someone else I admired more: Michael Esper in ''The Last Ship'' or Peter Gallagher in ''On the 20th Century.''

That NY Post article was written during previews, his diction improved greatly over the run. It was a crass article used to stir the pot, no surprise from Riedel.

Sauja said: "So...as many performances as will be in this category, is anyone a lock other than Clarke? I feel like Sutton is the second closest to a lock without anyone having even seen her. Everybody else...it could be a wild race. And if the love for Six is strong enough, I think we could see several make it in. That may be unlikely, but I don't think it's impossible!"

Joaquina Kalukango received raves for her performance in Paradise Square in Chicago. Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune said: "The show has a star turn from Joaquina Kalukango that will be formidable competition for anyone and everyone come Tony Awards time.” I think she's likely to score a nomination.